Wednesday, 31 May 2023

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Encouragement for Your Marriage: Secret Service

  

Secret Service


I gleaned so much wisdom from Heaven Not Harvard. Her original post is here.

Your heart will be more blessed doing quiet, secret service for your spouse than it ever is by nagging.

But not nagging and asking nicely isn't good enough if you harbor resentment when your request isn't met. It shows your inner grumble.

When you keep scores – I won’t do this for you because you didn’t do that for me, you will feel resentful. Each check mark against your spouse cements a brick in the wall between the two of you in the marriage.

The key is Secret Service - serving without drawing attention to yourself, quietly doing things for your spouse without being asked, without counting scores. It is about humility

Silently the floor is vacuumed, quietly the dishes are done, the laundry is washed and hanged up, silently his/her empty toothpaste tube gets replaced, his/her breakfast is quietly waiting each morning, his/her coffee is made, and even encouraging him/her to have cave time when his/her week has been frustrating.

To be able to serve and love your spouse well, the secret is to see your spouse as a loved creation of God struggling with his/her own imperfections, flaws and hurts.

Don't see your spouse as someone responsible for filling your heart, it could be his/her heart is so empty, he/she could barely function.

As God pours His grace into your heart through His Word, you will be able to be gracious and begin to fill up your spouse's cup out of the overflow of your own heart. 

You will be able to stop feeling resentful and start looking for the next thing you can do for him/her. You will be able to give him/her real attention, listening to his/her needs.

You can serve your spouse secretly, not because you don't want him/her to know, but because you don't need him/her to. God sees what we do in secret.

Once you learn the secret of loving your spouse well, begin your secret service.

Serve with a grateful attitude. As you go about your day, pray over your acts of service to your spouse, saying, "Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity to serve my spouse. Please remind me that all my service is for You ultimately, and is about humility and serving without drawing attention to myself. Thank you, Lord, my spouse is not a soldier deployed in Ukraine."

Pray over his/her day. Pray that his/her day will be enough to face the challenges of whatever he/she is called to do. Pray that his/her heart will be open to see God in his/her day. Pray for him/her to know that I love him/her, and bring him/her home safely.

Choose every day to thank God for those little things that irritate you. You will even be disappointed when he/she remembers to put the dirty laundry into the laundry bin!

Unconditional love is when we serve our spouse without counting the cost or return. Ask God to teach you how to love your spouse unconditionally.

Nothing transforms your marriage more than loving your spouse and expecting nothing in return.

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand knew what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:1-4 ESV)

References:

Tuesday, 30 May 2023

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Encouragement for Your Marriage: Be Happy To Be Taken for Granted

 

Be Happy To Be Taken For Granted


Did I hear that correctly? Yes

No one likes to be taken for granted. It is counter-cultural. The world tells us to stand up for our rights, to fight for what is fair and to ask, "What's in it for me?"

It's human nature to want to be appreciated, heard, seen, recognized and respected, and that's nothing wrong with that, but sometimes being taken for granted is not a bad thing. It is a gift. 

Just doing life, your spouse could be weighed down by stress, pressure, pain, frustration and exhaustion, and in the midst of coping, he takes you for granted. 

And we do the same too.

If our spouse takes us for granted, that means that they feel safe to lean on us, and that is a beautiful thing. 

Being taken for granted is actually a sign of growth in marriage. It means you are being relied upon.

Work hard at being happily taken for granted. Quietly, do things for your spouse without being asked, instead of counting scores.

Nothing transforms your marriage more than loving your spouse and not expecting anything in return.

As Heaven Not Harvard wrote, "What a beautiful blessing to be taken for granted. Did I hear that right? Yes. I am thankful that God has reminded me to see being relied upon as a blessing."

Today, celebrate being beautifully taken for granted.

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand knew what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:1-4 ESV)

I gleaned so much wisdom from Heaven Not Harvard. Her original post is here.

References:

Monday, 29 May 2023

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Wholewheat Spaghetti Carbonara

 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1. 400g wholewheat spaghetti 
2. 5 eggs or 10 egg yolks
3. 100g guanciale (cured pork cheeks) sliced in long thin size
4. 80g pecorino cheese grated
5. 3.5 litres of water
6. 35g salt
7. Pepper
8. 1 shallot onion chopped (optional)
9. 4 cloves garlic minced (optional)
10. A handful of chopped chives or parsley for garnishing
11. A handful of cheese for garnishing

Directions:

1. In a bowl, beat 5 eggs with pecorino cheese and set aside.

2. Bring a large pot 3.5 litres of water to boil, add 35g salt and cook the pasta al dente for 3 minutes only.

3. Heat a pan, add the guanciale under medium heat, and slowly fry it, because you don't want to burn the guanciale. You want it crispy, but not burned, but tender in the middle. The fat from the meat will turn into oil. Add garlic and onion and fry.

4. When the meat turns golden (but not burned), add the spaghetti into the pan and mix well, then add one ladle of pasta water.

5. Remove from fire and let it cool down a little bit before adding the egg mixture as you don't want the egg to turn into scramble eggs. If necessary, let it cool a little, but it should still be hot. Then add the egg mixture, stir and mix well away from direct heat.

6. If necessary, turn on the fire again under the lowest heat to evaporate the sauce to a desired consistency of the sauce.

7. Serve with sprinkling of grated periconi cheese, black pepper and chopped chives or parsley. Bon appetite :-)

Video Demonstration:

Additional Information:

I normally find this dish a little heavy, especially those I have tried in Denmark, but our whole family fell in love with it during our vacation to Rome. It didn't feel so heavy and is actually quite a nutritious meal, with the protein from the egg, especially if you use wholewheat spaghetti (and add a little green salad on the side). The real spaghetti carbonara in Rome does not contain any cream.

We just returned from Italy yesterday, and the kids already missed the trip and spaghetti carbonara already. So I decided to make some today.

This recipe is based on real Roman carbonara. Do not use cream. Real carbonara does not use cream. The sauce is creamy because of the eggs and cheese.

In general, one egg and 100g spaghetti for one person. Then add an extra egg on top. Use 50g guanciale for one person. Two persons, 40g cheese. For every 1 litre of water, add 10g of salt.

Spaghetti is the classic pasta that you use for carbonara as it absorbs the egg better. Avoid using other types of pasta. If you can, chooose spaghettoni, which is a bigger size of spaghetti, as it absorbs the egg better. You can also use rigatoni.

To make carbonara, you use guanciale, which is pork cheeks cured with garlic, sage and rosemary. If you can't find guanciale, use pancetta, which is cured pork belly. If you can't find pancetta, then use bacon, although bacon is smoked, not cured. 

Some Romans use whole eggs, some use only egg yolks. Most chefs nowadays only use the yolk, but there is no reason why you shouldn't use the whole egg.

I fry the meat with garlic and onions though, so it's a little deviation from the classic carbonara.

References:


Tuesday, 16 May 2023

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Overnight Rising Wholewheat with Carrot Bread Rolls (Koldhaevede Fudkornsboller)

This recipe is adapted from Arla's recipe. The main differences are that I reduced the plain white flour, added more graham flour/whole wheat flour, olive oil, egg, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, chia seeds and honey. 

Makes 24 bread rolls

Ingredients:

1. 10g yeast
2. 10g salt (2 tsp) (1.7% of flour weight)
3. 450g distilled water (cooled boiled water) + 50g buttermilk 0.3% fat (76% of flour weight)
4. 50g flaxseeds
5. 125g rolled oats
6. 120g sunflower seeds (2 dl)
7. 200g sliced squash or grated apple and/or grated carrots
8. 200g Olands wholewheat flour or Graham flour (33% of total flour weight)
9. 400g flour

10. Pumpkin seeds or additional sunflower seeds if desired for sprinkling on top of the dough (approx. 60-180g as desired) (You can also use oats instead)
11. 1 tsp chia seeds (optional)

Directions:

1. In a big bowl, add yeast, salt and water and mix well.

2. Add Graham flour or Olands wholewheat flour, grated zucchini, oats, sunflower seeds and flax seeds and and mix well.

4. Add flour and mix well. The dough should be quite wet and sticky, but hold its form and not runny. 

5. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds and/or flaxseeds as desired on top of the dough, cover and leave it in the fridge overnight.

6. The next morning, pre-heat the oven to 250 degree Celsius with an extra baking tray at the bottom.

7. Use a spoon and form the dough into buns on a baking tray laid with baking paper.

8. Place the buns in the oven and pour a glass of water into the empty baking tray. Below is a video demonstrating it.

9. Bake for 10-20 minutes or until the buns turn golden.

Video Demonstration:


Additional Information:

While white flour bread rolls are tasty, but they are pretty much empty calories void of much nutrients. Our kids can be quite picky at times, thus I wanted their snack/food to be packed with as much nutrients as possible, so that if they only eat the bread rolls without eating any other main course, I will still rest easy. These bread rolls contain protein and calcium from the milk and buttermilk, the vitamin Bs from the egg and fiber from the carrot. The carrot also gives the bread rolls the natural sweetness and helps to make the bread rolls moist. The sunflower seeds, flax seeds and chia seeds are all jam packed with nutrients and good energy source. While the original recipe doesn't call for any oil, adding olive oil enhances the texture and taste, and yet is a good fat source, unlike butter.

The dough should be quite wet and sticky, but hold its form and not runny. In general, if baking using white flour, the ratio of liquid to flour is 1:2. If using wholewheat flour, the liquid to flour ratio is 3:4. You can use grated apple, squash, etc. instead of carrot. I tend to use half a portion of carrot and apple. If you don't have the time to leave the dough to rise overnight, you can leave it in room temperature to rise for 3-4 hours and it will double in size within that time.

You do not have to use an electric mixer. The dough is very forgiving and can be easily combined using a ladle or spoon. But since I have an electric mixer at home, I am using it.

Hope your children and teenagers will like them as much as mine do :-)

Arla's ingredients are listed below just for my own record:

1. 500g flour
2. 200ml (100g) wholewheat flour
3. 400ml (125g) oats
4. 10g yeast
5. 500ml cold water
6. 300ml natural yogurt
7. 100g carrots grated (approx. 1.5 carrots)
8. 1.5 tsp salt
9. 200ml sunflower seeds (approx. 120g)

References:


Olands wholewheat flour available from Føtex supermarket

Wheat flour available from Netto or Føtex supermarket

Graham flour available from Netto or Føtex supermarket

Buttermilk

In a large bowl or electric mixer, add 10g of yeast.

Add 10g salt.

Add 3 carrots (grated) 200g.

Add 50g of buttermilk and 450g of distilled water (cooled boiled water)

Add 125g of rolled oats.

Add 50ml of flaxseeds (optional)

Add 200g of Graham flour or Olands wholewheat flour.

Add 400g of flour.

Add 120g (2 dl) sunflowers seeds

Now it's done :-) The dough should be quite wet and sticky, but hold its form and not runny.

Sprinkle pumpkin seeds as desired on top of the dough, cover and leave it in the fridge overnight.

Cover and place overnight in the fridge.

It has grown into double its size now.





Place in the oven and pour a glass of water into the empty baking tray.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until the buns turn golden.


The buns are done :-)

Wednesday, 10 May 2023

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Oven-roasted Candied Almonds


 
Makes 1 tray

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups raw unsalted almonds
2. 1 egg white (30g)
3. 1/2 cup sugar
4. 2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 120 degree C (250 degree F).

2. In a large mixing bowl, add egg white.

3. Add almonds and mix until evenly coated.

4. Add sugar and mix well.

5. Add cinnamon powder and mix well.

6. Spread the almonds evenly on a single layer on a baking tray laid with baking paper.

7. Bake at 120 degree C (250 degree F) for one hour.

8. Remove from oven, stir and let cool. Enjoy!

Storage:

Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the freezer.

Additional Information:

The whole family likes it especially my father-in-law. I cut the sugar to 1/2 cup compared to the original recipe and the candied almonds still tasted  very sweet.

Sometimes I use pasturized egg white that comes in a 40g packaging. In this case, I would use the following pro-rated proportion:

1. 4 cups raw unsalted almonds
2. 1 small container of egg white (40g)
3. 2/3 cup sugar
4. 2 tsp cinnamon

References:
















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